


Cognition of You

by cassie_star_12 (corvus_ace)



Series: ShuAke Week 2020 [5]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: How Do I Tag, Idk what to put in the tags for this one, If you know what to look for, M/M, a sequel is coming for this one too, akira is a lonely disaster gay, akira is stubborn af, barely, crow's outfit has changed now, crowboy is on the run, he bailed out of the conspiracy, he survived shido's palace, i promise i'm working on it, joker's has too, no beta we die like okumura, no yoshizawa sisters, not p5r, rated teen and up for swearing, so is goro tbh, the metaverse navigator makes its grand return, there's a persona 5 animation reference in here, well i mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27651082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvus_ace/pseuds/cassie_star_12
Summary: ShuAke Week 2020 - Day 5 - Opposites / Home / OutfitsBarely surviving his battles aboard Shido's Palace, Goro makes his escape from the conspiracy and starts traveling all across Japan in search of a place to call home. A year later, he finds himself in the Metaverse once again, and there he encounters a familiar face: his rival, his opposite in every sense of the word---and the only person who has ever made him feel at home.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: ShuAke Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016971
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	Cognition of You

**Author's Note:**

> hmmmm. I don't like this one very much. Tell me what you think though

_ \---“So...my final enemy is a puppet version of myself....” _

_ “Change Shido’s heart...in my stead...make him pay...!” _

_ “Heh...after all this,  _ that’s  _ what you have to say? Seriously, you really are....” _

_ Two gunshots, and a burst of pain in his shoulder. Summoning Loki with the last of his strength, a single mission in mind---to obliterate everything in his way. _

_ Collapsing, alone, on the engine room floor--- _

_ Dragging himself to the nearest safe room, mask broken, covered in his own blood--- _

_ Warping back to reality and passing out in an alleyway--- _

_ Waking up in Sae’s room, bandaged and  _ alive _ somehow--- _

_ Sneaking out of the house, leaving a note on Sae’s bedside table--- _

_ Destroying his phone and boarding the next train out of Tokyo--- _

★ ☆ ★

Officially, Akechi Goro goes missing on December third, and hasn’t been seen since. He is presumed dead, and this is later confirmed in Shido Masayoshi’s confession after having his heart stolen.

Unofficially, Goro makes his escape from the conspiracy by faking his own death and leaving Tokyo in disguise. He travels across Japan for a year, searching for somewhere to live out the rest of his days in relative peace. He never stays in one spot for more than three weeks---every time, he finds some trace of the conspiracy, and he won’t risk being discovered.

Eventually, after a year of traveling, he finds a small town with no traces of the conspiracy. The town is called Hiraizumi, located a fair distance northeast of Tokyo, and for some reason Goro finds the name very familiar.

The day he arrives, the Metaverse Navigator reappears on his phone, and he gets pulled in.

★ ☆ ★

“Shit,” Goro said.

He looked around; the town still looked mostly normal, albeit featuring the occasional Shadow wandering the streets. None of them had noticed him yet, but Goro raised his hand to his helmet, prepared to summon Loki if needed---

He wasn’t wearing his helmet.

Instead, he felt the familiar shape of his tengu mask, the one he’d gained when he’d awakened to Robin Hood. He also wasn’t wearing his clawed gloves---but he wasn’t wearing the white ones, either.

These gloves were simple black ones, soft and smooth.

Something was wrong.

Goro slowly looked down at his outfit.

For the most part, it held the same design as his Crow outfit---a princely suit, with a belt and a waist-length cape. However, it had the colors of his Black Mask outfit. Most of the fabric was black or a dark gray; all the gold details had turned to silver; instead of red, the suit’s accents were now blue; the cape was black at the shoulders and faded down to blue at his waist; his tengu mask, when he carefully removed it, was also black; the belt, instead of featuring the letter “A” on the clasp, held the kanji for “justice” now. He could sense Robin Hood and Loki within him, just as powerful as before.

He’d left behind his ray gun and saber when he’d made his escape, but the Metaverse had once again provided him with weapons---a silver gun that was somewhere between the ray gun he’d once used and the pistol he’d shot the cognitive Kurusu Akira with in the police station (complete with a removable silencer, even), and a saber with an intricate silver hilt. When he drew the saber, he found its blade to be unserrated, and it glowed the same bloody red as the eyes he’d inherited from his mother.

So. A dark prince of justice. That’s what he was now.

Very well.

Goro sheathed his new saber and checked the Meta-Nav on his phone. There was no Palace listed.

Instead, it simply read,  _ Tahavaah. _

Goro frowned. Was that this city’s equivalent of Mementos?

“Who’s there?”

The shockingly familiar voice shook Goro out of his reverie, and he looked up to see an equally shockingly familiar silhouette standing on a rooftop several feet away.

Well. Now he knew why the town’s name had sounded so familiar.

The silhouette jumped down to the ground and started walking towards him, drawing a dagger that glinted a bright gold. He stopped about six feet away and raised his weapon.

“Show yourself,” Joker said.

Goro, realizing he was still in the shadows, stepped forward into the light.

Joker---Kurusu Akira---dropped his weapon in shock.

“Hello, Joker,” Goro said with a smirk at having surprised the thief.

Akira, seemingly struck speechless, picked up his dagger and put it away.

His own outfit had changed, too. His tailcoat and pants were white and gold with red accents; his gloves were white now; his waistcoat was white and gold; his domino mask’s black accents had changed to red; his dagger had been golden, and the pistol attached to his hip was the same color.

Something about the gun caught Goro’s eye.

“Show me the gun,” he said.

“Goro?” Akira said, sounding extremely lost. “You’re alive?”

“Obviously,” Goro said. “Show me the gun, Kurusu, I want to check something.”

Akira wordlessly drew the gun and held it out, confirming Goro’s suspicions: it was a mix of the pistol he’d used in Tokyo and a ray gun.

“Your outfit changed to reflect my Crow outfit,” Goro said. “Why?”

“Because in my eyes,” Akira said, putting away the gun, “you were the true proof of justice.”

Goro laughed at that. “Seriously? After all I did to you?”

“Your outfit’s changed, too,” Akira pointed out. “How the hell are you alive? Oracle---Futaba said she lost your signal in the engine room. She said only the small-time Shadows were left.”

“I don’t pretend to be an expert,” Goro said, “but my signal was probably weakened when my bastard father’s cognition of myself shot me in the shoulder. I obliterated him, as well as the other Shadows. I then pulled myself into a safe room and warped back to reality. Sae-san found me in an alleyway and brought me to her house, keeping me hidden from Makoto. Once I was recovered enough to move, I left Tokyo in disguise. I’ve been traveling around the country for a year, looking for somewhere to live that doesn’t have traces of Shido’s conspiracy. I found this town a few days ago and confirmed yesterday that it was clear, and arrived a short while ago. Then I got pulled in to...wherever the fuck we are, and saw you.”

“Tahavaah,” Akira said. “It’s basically this town’s version of Mementos. I’ve been working down here since I returned.”

“I didn’t realize Hiraizumi was your home,” Goro said.

“It’s not. It’s just a place I’ve lived,” Akira corrected him. “I was born here; I’ll probably die here. My home is with my friends. But I can’t return to Tokyo right now. Not until I fix this place.”

Goro considered this for a moment, then said, “Okay. I’ll help you.”

“What?”

“I can still use my Personas. I can still fight,” Goro said. “So I’ll help you fix this place. At the very least it’ll give me a source of income and something to end the boredom of roaming from town to town.”

Akira sighed, then said, “Where are you staying?”

“I have no idea,” Goro said.

Akira just stared at him for a few moments.

“Alright, we’ve gotta fix that,” he said. “Let’s return to the real world and talk this out over lunch.”

★ ☆ ★

“Tell me about Tahavaah,” Goro said.

“Find a place to stay, first,” Akira countered.

Goro sighed. “Fine. Do you know of any cheap hotels in the area?”

“You’re not planning on staying?”

“This town appears to be safe,” Goro said, “but I can’t risk it. I’ve been to nineteen different towns in the past year, and every single one has had traces of Shido’s conspiracy, without fail. I’ll be here until I can’t, and considering the Metaverse navigator reappeared and reactivated the  _ moment _ I set foot in this town, I’m willing to bet I’ll have to leave within two weeks.”

“So you just...what? Find a town, and leave when you’re in danger?”

He laughed. “I’m always in danger. I signed up for that the minute I walked into Shido’s office and offered him my power.”

“Have you run into any of the other Thieves?” Akira asked him.

“Of course not,” Goro said. “I’m sure they would have told you if I had.”

“Right, right,” Akira said sheepishly. “Well, uh---why don’t you stay with me?”

Goro stared at him for a full minute; Akira stared right back unflinchingly. Akira’s expression was open as ever, and Goro could tell he was being honest.

“Holy shit, you’re actually serious,” Goro finally said.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Akira said. “Listen. My parents don’t give a shit. We have an extra room. As long as you don’t break anything and you make or buy your own food, they won’t care.”

“I am  _ not _ moving in with you, Kurusu.”

“Come on, just because we’re rivals doesn’t mean we can’t live together.”

“I know that.”  _ You’re the only person who’s ever made me feel at home, after all. _ “But people will ask questions. I’d rather not have to deal with that.”

“Goro. You don’t have a place to stay. I’m offering you one,” Akira said. “What are you so afraid of?”

_ You make me feel at ease in a way no one else can, and I’m afraid of what that means. _

Akira’s eyes widened, and in a moment of sheer panic, Goro realized he had said that aloud.

“Shit,” he said. “Forget I said that.”

“No, wait,” Akira said. “Goro---”

Goro buried his face in his hands, terrified and extremely embarrassed.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“Hey, listen to me---”

“I’m not moving in with you, Kurusu, and that’s final---”

“Crow!”

Shocked into silence by his former code name, Goro looked up. Akira’s expression was soft, but his eyes were hardened steel.

“You don’t have to be afraid of your feelings, you know,” he said quietly. “I was afraid of mine, too, once. I let that fear control me. But then I met this charming and whip-smart young detective. He had a troubled past, but it made him stronger. He became a warrior of justice, a hero---a prince, even. He inspired me to face the darkest parts of myself, even when it was hard.”

“Kurusu---”

“Not done,” Akira said firmly. “He was so incredibly strong, and I looked up to him a lot. It was hard as hell to accept the darkness in me that emerged after he was gone. But I knew he would have wanted me to move forward anyway, to keep pushing even when things got rough. He taught me that true justice could be achieved by one person. So I fought. And when I discovered Tahavaah, it was the memory of this detective---the most wonderful man I’ve ever met---that drove me to begin my Metaverse work again, to save people who couldn’t save themselves. Now, with all that said---if I could accept the darkness within me, you can accept the light in yourself. You are  _ not _ a bad person. You are capable of feeling good things, and you are capable of loving people. You should not be afraid of something so pure. Okay?”

“I never said that,” Goro muttered.

“That you’re afraid of something so pure?”

“No. That I...feel that way about you.”

“Oh,” Akira said. “No, I know, I was just using that as an example. Although---it’s how  _ I _ feel.”

“I---what?”

“You heard me,” he said with a slight nervous laugh. “I, uh. We might be opposites in every sense of the word, but...we have a bond, Goro. I care about you a lot. More than I’ve ever cared about anyone else. When I first saw your silhouette in Tahavaah---it was so familiar, but I couldn’t dare to hope. ‘It’s not him, he’s dead, I’m not lucky enough to see him again’ is what I thought. And then you stepped into the light, and I saw those beautiful red eyes, and I just  _ knew _ that it was you. That you’d come back somehow. And my first thought was, ‘this time I’ll have a chance to tell him how much he means to me’. So. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. But I love you, Goro, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re safe and happy.”

“I---” Goro swallowed; it was a challenge. “I can’t say it. But...I think you already know the answer. I just...I don’t know what to do. I’ve been in hiding for a year. I wasn’t expecting to ever see you again. And my being here---it puts you in danger. If Shido’s men find me---”

“I’ve survived Shido once, I can do it again,” Akira said. “Stay with me. Help me fix this town. And once we’ve done that, if you need to leave again, I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking,” Goro said. “Your life would be in danger every day. You would be hunted down, treated like a criminal. If Shido’s men found out you were with me, they’d try to hurt you too. They might even hurt your family, if it came to that.”

“I know the risks, and I’m prepared to take them. I’ve been a Phantom Thief for two years now, you know,” Akira said. “And I’m still alive. I want to help you. Let me.”

Then he pulled something out of his jacket and set it on the table.

A simple black leather glove.

“You kept it,” Goro murmured, looking up to search Akira’s face.

“Of course I did. It reminds me of you,” Akira said. “Stay? Please?”

Goro glanced down at the glove again, then back up at Akira.

Then he took a deep breath and said, “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> I might add another part to this about Akira and Goro's adventures in Hiraizumi (an actual, real place that I chose for Akira's hometown) and in Tahavaah (a totally made-up place that's basically Mementos for Hiraizumi). We'll see.
> 
> Not super proud of this one, but due to personal reasons I wasn't able to put as much time into it as I would have liked to, so I think it turned out okay.
> 
> Goro is absolutely running away from his feelings. That's what he does.
> 
> Yes, Joker's new outfit is absolutely based on his Super Smash Bros Ultimate alt. You know which one I'm talking about.
> 
> Let me know in the comments what you thought!


End file.
